Two Motorcycle Gang Members Elude Dragnet

Sep. 06, 1986

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) _ Sheriff's deputies and FBI agents have arrested seven members of the Outlaw motorcycle gang for 11 murders, racketeering and various other charges and are searching for two more.

They were among 12 current and former gang members named in a sealed federal indictment that was returned July 29. Three were already serving prison sentences.

The arrests in Florida, Atlanta and Simpsonville, S.C., began early Friday when FBI agents and Broward County sheriff's deputies raided the club headquarters and three houses here, said FBI spokesman Paul Miller.

At the clubhouse, authorities confiscated club records and 13 weapons, including an Uzi machine gun, handguns, rifles, and shotguns and ammunition, Miller said. Raids of the three houses netted seven more guns, including rifles, automatic pistols and shotguns, he said.

Each of the 12 men is charged with at least two counts of racketeering during the last 15 years. If convicted, each faces a maximum prison term of 40 years and fines of $50,000 on racketeering charges alone, Miller said.

Various suspects are also charged in combination with 11 murders, robberies, kidnappings, extortion, prostitution, and interstate transportation of women for purposes of prostitution, Miller said.

''Some of them (murders) were executions. The motivation was to eliminate people who could be witnesses against them and in some situations where they were killing rival motorcycle gang members, '' Miller said.

The victims included three members of the Hells Angels and an off-duty Dania police officer, he said.

Some of the gang members also are accused of possession and distribution of drugs including cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, methaqualone, valium, PCP and LSD, he said.

Still at large were James Evan ''Pinball'' Agnew, 34, of Fort Lauderdale, and former gang member Elenson ''Hobo'' Thompson, 42, whose address is not known, Miller said.